A World of Green
by Ophelia Lokisdottir
Summary: NATALIE FISHER SERIES #3: A friend from Bruce's past reemerges as a foe and plans to remake the world the way he wants it- and could actually succeed. T for violence later on and maybe some language. LokixNatalie
1. Chapter 1

******I apologize in advance for the long author's note.**

**_IMPORTANT: This story is the third story in my Natalie Fisher series. I realize that if you clicked on this story, you were interested in this one and you don't necessarily want to read the first two, so I will provide a summary of each that hopefully is adequate._**

**#1: With Great Power. Natalie Fisher (my OC) is struck by lightning that contains energy from the Tesseract. SHIELD finds her and brings her to the research facility where she witnesses the arrival of Loki. She then goes up to the Helicarrier where she meets the Avengers and during Loki's escape, discovers that she can create a near-indestructible substance. She is kidnapped by Loki, who takes her to Stark Tower, then she escapes to the streets during the battle. She is able to touch the tesseract, so she assists in shutting down Selvig's device. After the battle has died down, Tony suggests that she come live in the tower (as she's an orphan) so that she can learn to hone her new abilities. At the very end, she receives a letter that she guesses is from Loki apologizing for what he did.**

**#2: Holiday One-Shots: Fairly self explanatory, each chapter is a holiday at the tower and what goes on. Not really a huge plot, but there are some significant events. _Thanksgiving_- Thor and Loki return to earth because Odin has decided that Loki should return to earth and make amends with the Avengers- Natalie, having her reasons, is not as distrustful of him as the rest of the Avengers and begins convincing them that he's not really bad._ New Years-_ Natalie and Loki become romantically involved. _Natalie's birthday_- Natalie turns 17 and Nick Fury offers her the chance to become part of a junior agent program at SHIELD. Also, I named the substance she can create amaranthium.**

**Now that that's taken care of...**

**So recently I've been watching Ultimate Spider-Man on Netflix, as well as re-watching episodes of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes- don't judge me, okay? We all have our guilty pleasures- and the training was partly inspired by USM and the basic story here by an episode of EMH. I really liked that episode and I wanted to use it so I don't own that plot, or the characters except for Natalie. So I'm kind of going for more of the USM version of the characters because I like them better than any movie versions. I mean, only one has any movie versions, but..gah, I'm rambling, I apologize. Here's the story! Enjoy! I hope you're intrigued!**

* * *

_Five Years Ago_

The man sits up in the wreckage of the lab, wobbling as he feels a new weight on his head. His hand rubs along the side of his head, then drops in front of him as he gazes at the new pigment of his skin. He hears the roars in the streets outside but pays no attention as his mind begins to race, faster and stronger than it ever has. Ideas are forming and finalizing faster than he can keep track of them. He grins like he did a few minutes ago- a grin touched with insanity.

Oh, he's going to enjoy this very much.

~.~.~.~.~.~

_Present Day_

"Come on, Web-Head, is that the best you got?" Natalie called up to the figure crouched on the wall above her before using an amaranthium pole to vault out of the path of a stream of webbing. Across the large room, her partner Ava was fighting with a boy flying around her shooting pulses of blue energy from his hands. Ava leapt up, grabbing Sam's leg as he circled and yanked him down, pinning him to the ground. Natalie had been in the Junior Agents program for almost three weeks now. She'd met three other teenagers- actually, she'd met one before. She been surprised at first to learn the secret identity of Spider-man, but it did make sense now, how Peter got the photos he took. The other girl, Ava Ayala (codename White Tiger), possessed an amulet that gave her enhanced speed, agility, endurance and strength. The last member of the program, Sam Alexander (codename Nova), was associated with something called the Nova Corps- his father had been a member and now he was too, apparently. Natalie didn't have a code name yet. She was still working on that.

Peter jumped from his perch, swinging down towards Natalie while shooting globs of web fluid at her. She dodged each one before returning fire with little balls of amaranthium, allowing each to become slightly fluid as it left her hand. One caught Peter on the shoulder, sending him swinging off course. A wall blossomed from Natalie's hand right in Peter's path. Unable to avoid it, he hit it smack in the middle, dropping to the ground where Natalie was waiting. She gently placed a foot on his back as he started to get up.

"I win," she said.

"And today's victory goes to the girls!" cheered Ava, walking over and raising her hand to Natalie for a high five, which Natalie gave. The two boys got up to join them, mumbling excuses about letting the girls win before grinning and joining in the girls' joking.

Quite suddenly, a red light began to pulse on the wall as an alarm began to blare. A smooth voice spoke over the PA.

"This is a level six emergency. The bridge is under attack. Please report to your stations."

"What's level six?" Sam shouted over the alarm. Everyone looked at Natalie. She shrugged.

"I don't know, but whatever it is is attacking the bridge." She ran over to her bag lying against a wall and pulled out her phone. Hastily, she found Natasha's name in her contacts and touched the phone icon. "Come on, please pick up..." she muttered as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Tasha, thank god- something's happening on the Helicarrier. Something's attacking the bridge- it's a code six, but-" Tasha swore in Russian. Natalie heard running footsteps, then Natasha was shouting Clint's name, then the connection was ended.

"Well, I think she's on her way..." Natalie called Tony's number next.

"You have reached the life model decoy-"

"Tony, knock it off!" Natalie snapped. "I need your help, something's attacking the Helicarrier." Tony's joking manner vanished instantly.

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "I want to figure out what it is. Can you hack the Helicarrier's cameras and stream it to my and Widow's phones?"

"Of course I can hack them," scoffed Tony. "The video will be on your phone in under two minutes."

"Two?!"

"I know, it's way longer than usual- SHIELD finally beefed up their security system. Stark out." Tony hung up and Natalie sent a text to Natasha.

_Live carrier vid feed coming to you in 2_

A minute or so later, Tony sent a group text to her and Natasha containing the live video feed. The other teens gathered around her as she opened up the video. The scene was horrific. The bridge was in chaos, screens smashed, computers wrecked, and a gaping hole in the large front window. Agents lay all over the floor. The main action of the scene, however, was the monstrosity in the center of the room. It was probably around twelve or thirteen feet tall, and it looked like it was made of electricity. It tossed heavy computers banks and desks around like they were children's blocks. Several agents were locked in combat with it, but nothing they were doing had any effect on it at whatsoever. It was like attacking a tank with a flyswatter.

"What IS that thing?" Sam asked in revulsion and horror. Natalie's phone rang, the caller ID indicating it was Natasha.

"Lee, you need to get yourself and your friends off the Helicarrier. This is too dangerous for all of you."

"But-"

"Natalie Claire Fisher, don't argue with me. I don't want you getting hurt. SHIELD should have an evacuation process going. Go to a hangar and get a quinjet back to the tower." Natasha terminated the call.

"Oooh, middle name! Someone's in trouble!" Sam teased.

"I don't even want to know how she knew that," muttered Natalie, shutting off her phone. "Come on..." She led them to a hangar where jets were lined up waiting to depart. They boarded one and left for Avengers Tower.

The SHIELD pilot dropped them on the roof of the tower and Natalie led them through the door.

"_Greetings, Miss Fisher._" Sam, Ava and Peter jumped, looking around for the source of the voice.

"What's up, Jarvis? These are my friends from the junior agent program. Guys, say hi to Jarvis."

"Um-is he..." Ava was confused.

"Artificial intelligence. Tony made him a long time ago. Say hi, Jarvis."

"_Greetings._"

"Who's home, Jarvis?"

"_Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers joined Agents Romanoff and Barton a short time ago. Doctor Banner remained here._"

"What about Thor? Isn't he staying with the Avengers?" Peter asked. Natalie nodded.

"He was, but he left with his brother- long story- about a week ago. Something about a big diplomatic relations week or something on Asgard they had to be there for. Where's Bruce?" She directed this last question at Jarvis.

"_Working in his lab, Miss Fisher_."

Natalie led her friends to the elevator and down to Bruce's lab. She knocked on the glass window, waving when Bruce looked up. He came over and let them in. "Who're your friends?"

Natalie introduced her friends. Each raised a hand and said hello.

"Something's attacking the Helicarrier, huh? Any idea what?" Bruce asked. Natalie showed him the video feed, the small battle still raging with the additions of two-thirds of the Avengers. Bruce's brow furrowed.

"Do you recognize it?" Natalie asked. Bruce shook his head.

"No...I wish I did. It would be-" Bruce was cut off as the lab shook. The five occupants were sent sprawling.

"_Warning. The tower is under attack. Unknown assailant._"

"We figured, Jarvis," Natalie muttered as she stood up and pulled Ava to her feet. The floor cracked under her feet and she leapt away from the fissure as it began crumbling.

"Go!" she said, pushing Ava towards the door.

"Are you-" Peter began

"Yes! Go get help!" Her friends left the lab at a run. A huge, scaly hand punched through the hole, widening it, then a body followed, covered in scales and spines running down its back. The lizardlike creature roared. Another figure climbed down from its shoulder. Human-sized, but with emerald-green skin and a grossly oversized cranium. He had a pointed mustache, and his eyes gleamed with intelligence.

"Hello, Bruce," he said. "Long time, no see."

* * *

**So? How's it looking? If you liked it, you could let me know in a review!**

**And remember on the last chapter of Holiday One-Shots when I mentioned I had two polls that I would alternate? Yeah, I didn't really do that because the other one didn't make sense yet. But it makes sense now! And it's up! So if, after you so kindly drop a review, you could head on over to my profile and cast a quick vote, that'd be ever so nice of you!**

**See you next update!**

**~Ophelia**


	2. Chapter 2

**This story is coming so much faster than anything I've ever written! I don't think I've ever updated this fast! Also, made a minor adjustment to the last chapter- Nothing big, I just had Natalie make her friends leave to go get help (plus I didn't want to write something happening to ALL of them.) Enjoy Chapter 2!**

* * *

Natalie looked at Bruce. His fingers were splayed on the lab station in front of him, all his weight resting on his hands. Quickly, she moved to stand in front of him. "Bruce," she whispered. "If there ever was a need for the Other Guy, this would be it." Bruce's arms were shaking and his eyes were shining emerald. Suddenly, he let out a gasp and his eyes darkened back to brown.

"I c-can't," he gasped. The green man gave a mockingly sympathetic smile.

"No. You can't. Do you really think I would go to all the trouble of getting here just to let your friend out?" Bruce had gone very pale. His breathing was becoming labored. Natalie grasped his upper arm, glaring at the green man.

"What are you doing to him?!"

"I released a concoction of my own creation into the tower's ventilation system shortly before entering. It seeks out gamma energy and...contaminates any that it finds. It's not lethal, but quite incapacitating." As he spoke, Bruce dropped to his knees. Natalie remained standing, not wanting to take her eyes off of the man or monstrosity.

"What's the point of all this? Just came to give us a scare?" she asked, keeping her voice steady.

"Oh, no. You see, several years ago, I became friends with Bruce Banner. I wanted to help him with his...little problem." Natalie felt Bruce stiffen beside her. " When he found out that I had synthesized the blood sample he had sent me, made more of it, he wanted to destroy it. I told him there were so many practical applications for it, but he didn't listen. Then," here he placed a hand on the huge forearm of the monster beside him, "Blonsky came to me, told me he wanted some of Bruce's blood. I was hesitant at first, but he...convinced me. He was human then, and had the experimental super-soldier serum in him already. I was concerned about what it would do to him, but look at him now! He's a beautiful abomination." The Abomination chuckled. The man stepped over a chunk of rubble. "He was a bit uncontrollable when he was first...born, and he did destroy my lab. But through some miracle, a bit of Bruce's blood got into a cut he gave me, and now...now I am a leader! Of course, SHIELD got to both of us eventually, but they should have known that their meager excuse for a prison couldn't have held either of us for long. I befriended Abomination there, as well as a few other useful allies-like the one I sent to the Helicarrier. A decoy of course- I knew the Avengers would rush off to help, and Doctor Banner would stay behind unless absolutely necessary." Natalie was beginning to feel small waves of dizziness wash over her, and not from this "Leader's" monologue. She leaned on the lab bench. Whatever was affecting Bruce couldn't be affecting her could it? Unless... something that Erik Selvig had said over a year ago was ringing in her brain. "_...low levels of gamma radiation..._"

Well, that was just perfect.

"Your point?" she muttered. The man gave her an irritated look.

"My point is, Miss Fisher, that I have created a device that will show the world the benefits of gamma energy. I will remake the planet in my image- in _gamma's_ image- and then I will be its ruler. I wanted Doctor Banner to witness firsthand the effects of my device."

"So let me guess- you're setting it up here?" Natalie asked, trying to ignore the headache now stabbing behind her temples.

"Here? No. It's just begun. Abomination, why don't you show them what I've done so far." The monster moved with surprising speed. Before Natalie could react, he had smashed aside the lab station and grabbed her and Bruce in his huge hands. Natalie gasped as her chest was compressed inside the scaly claws. "Not so tight, Abomination- we don't want them expiring before they see the world I have started." The grip loosened slightly. Natalie was still immobile, but at least she could breathe. Abomination stomped over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and held them up. Natalie, having grown up in the city, knew every inch of the skyline, so her eyes were immediately drawn to the strange protuberance on a building a few miles away. As she watched, the top lit up green and a shimmering green dome grew from it. The dome began rapidly expanding. At the rate it was going, it would cover the tower within minutes. Natalie could only stare as the green light grew closer and closer. She looked down at the streets, Bruce's lab being low enough that she could make out the New Yorkers emerging from the buildings and cars. As the dome swept over them, they began to transform before her eyes. Their limbs elongating or shortening, their faces becoming gargoyle-esque, their skin turning green or gray or black. Many were sprouting wings or claws or horns. "Isn't it beautiful?" said the Leader from behind her.

"No!" Natalie cried. "It's horrible! You could be killing them!"

"I would not have begun my plan had I not been one hundred percent sure my device would have worked. I planned for years in prison. I have calculated every possible outcome and compensated for it." He pulled a small device from his pocket and walked up to stand next to Bruce. "I would rather not have you affected-the Hulk really would spoil what I've worked for." He jabbed the device into Bruce's arm. Bruce barely turned his head, which hung low, almost touching his chest.

"What about me? Do I get one of those?" Natalie asked, though she thought she already knew the answer.

"You have quite an astounding energy inside you already, and if I'm not mistaken, it's gamma. I would love to see what this does for you."

* * *

**Sooooo what did you think? Please review! I really love hearing from you guys! And go check out my poll if you haven't already!**

**~Ophelia**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all! Here's chapter 3 for ya! Enjoy!**

* * *

Loki and Thor walked side by side down one of the palace's many corridors.

"Well, I found that quite fascinating," said Loki jauntily, turning his head to look at Thor. Thor gave him a disbelieving look.

"Oh, come off it, brother, even you could not have found sitting in a room listening to Father talk to old representatives interesting." Loki raised his eyebrows.

"You didn't? You may very well have to engage in such affairs when you assume the throne." Thor gave him a hard look. "All right, the talk was trivial. But the purpose, Thor! You and I both know very well the consequences of letting diplomatic relationships fall into disrepair." Thor relented.

"Very well, Loki. Perhaps..." He trailed off as a royal guard came rushing up the passage toward them. The guard stopped in front of them and dropped to one knee.

"My princes," he panted. "Heimdall wishes to see you at once. He says it is urgent." Thor and Loki looked at one another before simultaneously turning and striding off down the passage the way they had come.

The two took their horses from the palace stables and made their way through the streets of Asgard. They reached the great golden gates that marked the beginning of the shimmering rainbow path, long since repaired with the help of the Tesseract.. The gates smoothly swung open and they raced through, urging their horses into a gallop, red velvet and green silk flapping behind them.

They reined in their mounts when they reached the gatekeeper, standing impassive as he usually did, the distant look in his amber eyes indicating his gaze was somewhere else in the nine realms. Thor and Loki dismounted from their horses and stood in front of Heimdall.

"What is the urgent matter you wished to speak with us about, Gatekeeper?" asked Loki.

"Trouble is once again afoot on Midgard. I believe the mortals you have allied yourself with cannot defend themselves against this threat." Heimdall turned and entered the Bifrost dome. Thor and Loki hurried after him, matching worry lines creasing between their eyes. The gatekeeper lowered his sword into the device on the dais in the center of the room. Light crackled around them, swirling into a portal in front of them.

"This is unlike anything the mortals have faced. Good luck," said Heimdall, and with that, Thor and Loki were pulled into the Bifrost.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

They touched down in a deserted area of the city shoreline, lined with rotting warehouses. Both noticed immediately the green dome now covering most of the city.

"What sorcery is this?" Thor muttered.

"It's not sorcery, Thor, believe me. It's just plain Midgardian science." As they watched the dome, eyes narrowed, a blue glowing streak shot out of the city, from the direction of Avengers Tower. As it drew closer, the pair of gods could see that the blue streak was a person flying, and that he had two others hanging from some sort of rope. One of the hanging figures pointed down towards the gods and the flier changed his course to come soaring down to land in front of them. They were dressed rather strangely, even for Midgardians. The only girl in the trio was dressed in a white bodysuit with gray stripes along the shoulders and hips, and a mask covered her entire head. The mask had two small pointed ears, like a cat's and the spaces over her eyes were faintly glowing yellow. Her hair flowed in a ponytail out the back of the mask. The one flying wore a gold helmet with a red crest across the brow, and a dark blue uniform with three gold discs on the chest, sort of like Thor's armor. He had gold gloves and boots as well. The third one wore a red and blue bodysuit with a pattern like a spider's web all over it and a spider insignia on his chest. His mask, like the girl's covered his entire head, and had silvery pointed ovals over the eyes.

"You're Thor, right?" the spider one said, gesturing to said god. Thor gave an affirmative nod.

"Indeed. And this is my brother, Loki. Who are you?"

"I'm White Tiger," said the girl, "and this is Nova and Spider-man." She indicated each boy. "We were on our way to the Helicarrier to get help because of that," she pointed at the green dome, "and our friend is still inside Avengers Tower, along with one of the Avengers. There was this huge monster thing attacking the tower and she told us to go get help." Loki grabbed her shoulder.

"Who is your friend? What is her name?"

"Natalie. Why?" replied White Tiger. Loki took his hand off her shoulder and vanished.

Loki reappeared in the tower on the living floor of the Avengers. "Jarvis. Are you active?" There was a faint warbling sound from Jarvis's speakers. "For the love of Helheim..." Loki crossed to Jarvis's access panel and yanked the cover off, fiddling with the wires inside until several sounds began emerging from the speakers, followed by, "Good evening, Loki. How may I help you?"

"You can tell me where Natalie is," Loki replied tightly.

"She and Doctor Banner are in his lab. They are being held captive by an unknown criminal and a creature that apparently works for him." Loki disappeared again.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"How long do you think the tower can protect against my gamma dome, Miss Fisher?" The Leader clasped his hands behind his back and began to walk leisurely away from the Abomination and his captives. "I would imagine that the tower defenses can hold up for...mmm, ten minutes? I would say you have around five minutes until you experience the wonders of gamma energy firsthand." He turned back to face her, a wicked smile curving his lips. "But why wait?" He flicked his fingers at the Abomination, who dropped Bruce and smashed the window. Bruce lay gasping on the floor as the Leader climbed up to perch on the Abomination's shoulder. The Abomination then leaped out the window to a rooftop across the street. Natalie looked back as they sailed through the air and decided the gamma radiation must already have begun affecting her, because she though she saw Loki standing in the rubble of the lab.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Loki materialized in the lab and immediately noticed Bruce on the floor. He knelt at Bruce's side, touching his neck to find his pulse.

"Bruce," he said, lightly but insistently tapping Bruce's cheek. Bruce mumbled something and his eyes fluttered. "That's right, come on, Doctor Banner." Bruce opened his eyes blearily and then closed them against the ceiling lights.

"Loki..." he mumbled. "What..."

"Bruce, do you know where you are?" Loki asked.

"Um...lab..."

"I'm taking you to the Helicarrier. Where is Natalie?" Bruce struggles to move his arm in the direction of the shattered window. Loki squinted out into the evening sunset and saw a shape bounding from building to building towards a strange tower. Turning back to Bruce, he placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder and the pair disappeared. Loki was not sure where the medical bay was, so instead he sought out Thor's location and went there instead. Unfortunately, Thor was on the bridge talking to Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow.

Right in front of Nick Fury.

All the nearby agents pulled out weapons and pointed them at Loki. The motion spread like a ripple across the room until Loki had around fifty weapons trained on him. The five conscious Avengers stepped into a circle around Loki, shielding him from the agents.

"What the hell, Stark?" Fury snapped.

"Oh yeah...we sort of forgot to mention that Loki's been living at the Tower since November."

"He's been _what_? Stark, do you remember exactly what he did that led to the formation of the Avengers?"

"My brother was not under his own control when he attacked this city," Thor argued.

"Go with it, director-we can talk later," said Natasha.

"Yes, we've been over this," Loki piped up from inside the circle. "And while we are up here fighting over something at least two people that you trust here know, someone else has decided to poison your city and has Natalie hostage." The effect on the Avengers was immediate. Steve gripped Loki's arm.

"Who? Where?"

"I don't know yet, and it doesn't matter, you can't go into the city without being poisoned by gamma radiation."

"My armor can seal against radiation," said Tony.

"Yes, but it'd be you against the irradiated New York population, plus the criminal behind this and whatever creatures they've picked to aid them. I can go into the city as an Asgardian, and that is what I intend to do. Banner can help the rest of you- get him to the medical bay." With that parting remark, he vanished.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The Abomination landed on the roof of the building, at the base of the tower and released Natalie, sending her sprawling on the ground. She pulled herself up, pressed against the tower for support. She felt extremely nauseated and dizzy, and could barely produce a glow around her hand. She concentrated harder, producing a tiny amount of amaranthium, only for it to attach to her hand as if by static electricity and begin growing, covering her hand and wrist and spreading up her arm. It _hurt_. It felt like it was melding with her skin, and to her horror she could see the bones and muscles in her arms before the amaranthium turned opaque. As the pain spread over her legs, they gave out and she fell to her hands and knees on the gravel-covered roof. Her hair hung forward and she could see that it was turning from auburn to silver, the color washing down from the roots to the tips. For a minute she felt like she was losing consciousness, but realized that something was pushing her deeper and deeper into her own mind, forcing her out of control of her body. There was a thud from in front of her, and whatever was controlling her (the small bit of Natalie deep inside her mind decided to call it Gamma Nat) looked up. Loki had landed and had a look of utter fury on his face as he stared at the Leader.

"If you have harmed her, I will make you suffer in ways you could never imagine in your worst nightmares," he hissed. The Leader gave an amused smile.

"I don't think you realize where the power lies here," he said calmly. He raised his voice. "Fisher! This man is irritating me. Please remove him from the tower." Natalie rose to her feet. Loki turned to her.

"Lee, what-" He was cut off as Natalie made a leap that covered fifteen feet across the roof and grabbed his shoulders, her momentum carrying him across the five feet between him and the edge of the roof and over the edge. The pair landed on the roof of the building next door. As Loki's back crashed into the roof, Natalie vaulted off his shoulders, twisting in the air to land crouched facing him. Loki picked himself up and spun to face Natalie. She glared at him, and with a start, he saw her eyes were completely silver. She snarled- actually snarled- at him and sprang again. Loki was ready this time. He hated to do it, but he crouched as though ready for her and her flying form passed right through his illusion. She skidded to a halt and turned around. She hesitated. Her eyes flickered, momentarily showing their normal hazel coloring.

"Go- leave- help-" she choked out. Loki paused before vanishing once more, leaving the what-was-Natalie alone on the rooftop.

* * *

**I couldn't keep our Asgardian friends out of here for very long! As always, please review! I really want to know what you have to say about my work!**

**DFTBA,**

**Ophelia**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! I just hit my one-year anniversary on FanFiction! So if there are any of you reading this right now who started following me or my stories way back when I published ****With Great Power****, thanks for sticking with me for a whole year! (And if you haven't been here the whole time- thanks all the same for reading and supporting!) So enjoy chapter 4!**

* * *

Natalie was pretty annoyed, to put it mildly. When the radiation had begun altering her, something else had taken over her mind. What scared her- or angered her- the most was that Gamma Nat had come from her own personality. Natalie had no idea what her mind looked like but as her body had turned purple, something had taken the mind-version of her and pulled her deep inside of her head. She found herself in a spacious white room. Three full walls were lined with bookshelves reaching to the ceiling and there was a large plasma screen taking up part of the last one, with a small platform in front of it on the floor. She scrambled up off the floor and turned to face her assailant, who was...herself?

Gamma Nat looked almost identical to her, but her eyes had purple irises and glittered with pure malice. She smirked and flicked her hand. A small cage materialized around Natalie.

"Sit tight, darling, I've got some business to take care of." Her voice sounded as if three Natalies were talking, creating a harsh, dissonant chord. She turned on her heel and stalked up to stand on the little platform, watching the screen. Natalie watched as Loki landed in front of them, as he threatened the Leader, and as the Leader told her to remove him from the building. Gamma Nat leaned forward, throwing her hands out in front of her, and the view on the screen zoomed towards Loki, taking him off the edge. Natalie had to give Loki time to get out of there. She glanced at Gamma Nat, who was occupied with the screen. Natalie was delighted to find that her power still worked, and she reached outside the cage and hovered a finger over the lock's keyhole. A blob of amaranthium formed and dropped over the hole, oozing inside. She let it harden, then gave it a twist and the lock popped open. Gamma Nat remained oblivious, actually letting out a snarl on the platform as she prepared to spring at Loki again. Natalie could see from here that Loki had created an illusion- if you were looking for it you could see the illusion fading slightly and strengthening again. As Gamma Nat sprung- well, leaned- again, Natalie ran up and tackled her off of the platform, delivering a powerful punch to her temple. She jumped onto the platform and she was no longer in the white library, she was back in her body and looking at Loki.

"Go to the Helicarrier! Leave me and get help!" she shouted-or tried to, as she was pulled back into her mind and had to fight to stay on the platform as she was talking. Thankfully, Loki appeared to get the message, as he vanished. Gamma Nat grabbed Natalie by her shirt front, lifting her off the ground. Natalie responded by kneeing her roughly in the belly. She dropped Natalie and doubled over, gasping for breath. Natalie landed firmly and followed with another punch, connecting solidly with Gamma Nat's jaw. Gamma Nat was thrown backwards, sliding across the floor. She lay for only a few moments before climbing to her feet, the red mark on her jaw fading.

"Is that the best you've got, honey?" she said patronizingly. "I can carry on all day. I've got gamma energy on my side." She waved her hand and a swath of amaranthium wound its way around Natalie, pinning her arms to her sides and covering her hands as it molded itself to the shape of her body. Gamma Nat's amaranthium had green streaks flashing through it rather than silver. "Now stay out of my way." She shoved Natalie to the floor and flounced back to the platform. Natalie's head hit the floor when she fell and she lay, dazed, unable to move.

Loki reappeared next to Thor, who was startled by the worry in his brother's eyes.

"Hey, what happened, Reindeer Games?" Tony asked. The Avengers were still gathered in the bridge, and Bruce was standing with them, looking much better than when Loki had left a few minutes ago.

"Lee has been...compromised. She's been affected by gamma radiation and attacked me when I attempted to talk to her. She obeyed another man, with green skin and a ridiculously oversized head."

"Sterns," said Bruce in a tight voice that hinted of barely suppressed rage.

"Who's stern?" Steve asked.

"No, Samuel Sterns. The green guy. He tried to help me with my problem a while back- he created the Abomination using my blood."

"The what?" asked Fury.

"This guy named Emil Blonsky was recruited by General Thaddeus Ross. Yes, Betty's father," he said in response to the question that Tony was about to ask. "She kind of disowned him and that's not important. What's important is that Blonsky was injected with an experimental super-soldier serum that gave him a lot of the things the Captain has," he continued, waving his hand at Steve. "When Sterns gave him an injection of my blood, it reacted with the serum- which was flawed- and turned him into a...well, an abomination. He's as strong as the Hulk and extremely vicious, and Sterns has recruited him as a henchman." The group was silent for a moment before Steve spoke up.

"Loki, what exactly happened to Natalie? You said she attacked you- how was she able to fight you? I know you could easily overpower her if you wanted."

"The radiation turned her skin into...what does she call it? Amaranthium?" Tony nodded. "So she now is near-indestructible. I don't know exactly how her body has been affected other than she can easily take jumps of at least twenty feet, probably more. She has a completely different personality and didn't appear to recognize me- apart from a brief moment when the regular her surfaced and she told me to leave and get help." Loki finished speaking and there was another brief silence, broken by hurried footsteps as Agent Hill came running up to their small circle.

"Director, I realize this may be unnecessary but we've just received word from the Cube. They've had a mass prison break and we're only hearing about it now because their communications have been out. They're missing several prisoners-"

"What is this cube?" Thor interrupted.

"SHIELD prison. Designed to hold criminals affected by gamma radiation," said Fury. "There guesses on the missing prisoners."

"Samuel Sterns aka the Leader, Emil Blonsky aka the Abomination, Carl Creel aka the Absorbing Man, and a creature called Zzaax- that's what attacked us earlier. Uh, where is Zzaax, Director?"

"It escaped before we were able to subdue it," replied Fury.

"It was a diversion," said Bruce. "The Leader told me. All of it- to get to Natalie and me."

"We have an advantage now," said Loki. "If the Leader left you in the lab, he did not expect a rescue right away- meaning he can accomplish his goal fairly quickly and did not think he would have your interference. You likely are the only one who can do anything to stop him." All eyes turned to Bruce. He thought for a minute.

"I'm gonna need a lab. Obviously the one at the tower is out but I need a few things from it."

"I can get them for you," said Loki.

"And your lab here on the carrier is available," said Fury. Bruce nodded.

"Tony, I'm gonna need your help on this one." Tony grinned.

"All right! It's Science Bro time!" Bruce sighed but smiled.

"Yeah, Tony, it's Science Bro time."

* * *

**I really enjoyed writing the scene inside Natalie's mind, and if you enjoyed it you should let me know! Pleeease? Reviews make me happy and keep me writing!**

**DFTBA (any Nerdfighters out there?),**

**Ophelia**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! I'm sorry I took so long to post- my family and I went on vacation and I had NO time to write but I had a great time and I'm back now! This chapter is more of a filler chapter- not really a lot of action, but the big, climactic battle should be happening within the next few chapters!**

**Guest review (if you're still reading): I haven't considered that yet- but I'll try and make it happen in this story**

**Enjoy chapter five!**

* * *

Natalie was watching the screen, trying to shake the fuzziness from the fall she has taken. Gamma Nat jumped back up to the roof where the Leader was waiting calmly.

"He's gone, sir," she said in her harsh, ringing voice. "He will likely be back with the Avengers."

"I have no doubts about that, but they cannot be in my gamma dome without suffering its effects."

"What about the one she got?" asked the Abomination, speaking for the first time. He had a voice like the Hulk, but he spoke in full sentences, unlike the Hulk who mostly used short phrases. The Leader frowned.

"Yes...he did not appear to suffer my gamma radiation. Most infuriating, but he was easily dispatched. I do not predict trouble." _Idiot_, thought Natalie. She was calculating. I_f Loki's here, then Thor is here, and if Loki knew where we were, then Bruce might have told him, and that means Bruce was rescued. His gamma knowledge and Tony's inventing skills...they could create protection from the dome._ Gamma Nat apparently didn't have all of her memories, or she didn't remember that Loki was an Asgardian. She shifted in her bindings, and something clinked quietly against the amaranthium near her wrist. Her bracelet! _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ If she could feel what happened to her amaranthium, then it seemed logical that Gamma Nat could too. She almost went for the shock right away, but forced herself to wait. If she turned back to herself right next to the Leader and the Abomination, she'd be killed quickly and nastily. As the Leader told her to go out and patrol the area, and Gamm Nat began leaping across rooftops, Natalie planned.

The right moment would come.

And she'd be ready

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Bruce had set to work immediately in his old lab aboard the Helicarrier. Tony was in there but Bruce was working furiously in his element, Tony for once playing the role of assistant. Bruce had already taken a small sample of his own blood, placing a drop under a microscope. Tony had sneaked a look, having always been sort of curious what the gamma energy would look like. There were little faded green things floating amongst the red blood cells.

"Sterns released a chemical in the tower that stopped the other guy from coming out. It's still in my system a bit, so if I can isolate the compound, I might be able to create a vaccine against the gamma radiation so you all can go inside the dome," said Bruce, putting his eye to the microscope again. "It's definitely still in my blood," he said, more to himself than to Tony. He straightened, taking the small vial of blood and slotting it into a compartment on the side of a machine. The machine began whirring, and the scarlet liquid drained out of the vial.

"Now what?" Tony asked from behind him.

"Now we wait and see if I can isolate the compound. If I can, then I'll inoculate all of you and try and outfit some of your weapons. Clint's arrows would work best but you could see about your repulsors," replied Bruce.

"On it," said Tony, heading for the door. After Tony had passed out of sight, Bruce stumbled to the window that looked out at the wishbone of the Helicarrier. He leaned his head against the cool glass, gazing out at the lights coming on in the growing dusk and the less comforting view of the NewYork skyline inside the slowly expanding green dome. Natalie was inside somewhere, mutated and allied with the enemy.  
Bruce couldn't help but feel like it was all his fault.

His experiment.

His desperation to find a cure

His irradiated blood that had created their enemy and put them all in danger. He closed his eyes and clenched a fist on the glass. The Other Guy was pretty unhappy that he couldn't come out and he was having no qualms about making it clear to Bruce. He roared through their mental link, Bruce's skin becoming the faintest shade of green before fading.  
_Take it easy, big guy. Trust me, I want you out as much as you do but you just can't come out yet._ The Other Guy didn't understand why he couldn't come out but he trusted his small counterpart, so he settled back to wait. The small man would let him out when the time was right. The machine beeped behind Bruce, indicating the finished analysis. He turned and strode over, reading the data on the screen. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The compound was inert and would act like a vaccine. He keyed in a command and the machine began the process of separating the compound from his blood. Briefly, the thought of separating the gamma energy from his blood flitted through his mind, but he dismissed it as the gamma was an integral part of him now and trying to remove it could ultimately prove dangerous, not to mention just hard to do.  
Bruce took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose between two pinched fingers

"You okay, Brucie?" Tony had returned with Clint behind him. Both wore concerned expressions

"Yeah, I'm just..." He shook his head slightly. "I'm fine. Clint, do you have your arrows?" Clint shrugged off his quiver and tossed the pack to Bruce, arrows clinking slightly as he caught it. He took one out and removed the tip

"Tony, do you think you could make a bunch of new arrowheads that could deliver that compound like a vaccine?" Tony smirked

"Can I make them? Does a fish swim? Does the Hulk smash?" Clint chuckled as Tony plopped down at a station with a bunch of tools he had brought and began tinkering. Bruce checked the progress of the extraction in the machine. It was going agonizingly slowly. Every second they spent here was a second putting Natalie and the other New Yorkers in more and more danger

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Loki stood on the bridge's overlook, both hands wrapped around the railing, gazing out at the blue-black sky where several stars were twinkling. Thor came up behind his brother. Loki did not acknowledge him. Thor rested a hand on his shoulder. Loki turned his head slightly, speaking softly after a moment

"Is this how you felt?" he asked. "When I fell from the Bifrost? Like a part of you had been stolen? Not knowing whether someone you...someone important to you is dead or alive?" Thor nodded

"You worry for her, do you not?" Loki nodded, a slight flush creeping to his cheeks in spite of the solemnity of the moment. He turned to look forward again

"Every day I marvel at how fragile mortal lives are, yet how resilient the mortals can be." Thor gave his shoulder a brief squeeze. Loki let his hands drop from the railing and Thor could see the imprints of his fingers in the metal bar. Loki glanced down and repaired it with a wave of his hand

"We will overcome this, Loki."

* * *

**Yeah, so...filler chapter...review anyways? Reviews are my writing fuel!**

**Also if you haven't voted on my poll yet, you could do that too! I got another good idea from a faithful reader (MarvelAvengersFan2012, that'd be you!) that I added and I will be revealing the winning name at the end of the story!**

**You are all wonderful and I love you for taking the time to read my work!**

**-Ophelia**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys! Once again I apologize for the longer-than-expected update wait, I'm sure many of you will understand when I say school has been busy...but here is chapter six! Yay! And less than two weeks until ****_Marvel's Agents of SHIELD_**** airs! Bigger yay! As always, thank you for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

Four and a half hours. It took four and a half hours for the compound to be separated and synthesized into a vaccine. It was close to eleven at night when Bruce called the five Avengers and Loki to his lab. The Avengers were dressed for combat, with the exception of Tony, who was dressed in the black clothes he wore under his armor. Following behind them were Natalie's friends from training, also in their "super suits," minus any masks or headpieces. The three of them stood off to the side while the Avengers gathered around Bruce. In a tray on the lab station next to him lay several syringes filled with a clear fluid.

"All right, anyone who isn't an Asgardian, pick an arm and roll up your sleeve," he said. Natasha, Steve, Clint and Tony complied, Tony mumbling complaints about how his suit would withstand the radiation levels.  
"I'm not taking any chances, Tony," said Bruce quietly, swabbing the crook of his elbow and expertly injecting the needle and emptying the syringe. Once he finished with the Avengers, he made to take off the latex gloves he wore.

"Hey, what about us?" asked Sam indignantly.

"No," said Bruce and Steve simultaneously. A flurry of protests arose from the three costumes teenagers. Steve held up a hand and silence fell.

"I know Natalie is your friend and you want to help her, but it's t-" Peter cut him off.

"I've been fighting New York's super villains for over a year and I'm fine!"

"Yeah, it's not like we're newbies," Ava chimed in. "We've been training with SHIELD for a month, but that doesn't mean we're not familiar with our abilities. We're here to hone them, not discover them."

"Frankly, they have a point," said Natasha. "I've seen videos of their training sessions. It'd be worth having a few extra people who can fight." Steve sighed.

"All right," he conceded. "On one condition. If any of us tell you to get yourselves to safety, you do it immediately and without question. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," chorused the heroes-in-training. After Bruce inoculated them, he began to take off his gloves again.

"What about you?" Clint asked, though he already anticipated the answer.  
"I think it's time for the Other Guy to come and play," he said, his eyes glinting emerald.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Everyone boarded a quinjet with the assassins in the pilot seats. As they neared the dome, which now extended almost a mile into the Atlantic, Steve began issuing some last orders.

"The number one rule here is don't hurt the civilians. They might be affected and try and hurt us, but avoid hurting them as much as possible." Everyone voiced agreement, then grew quiet as they drew close to the shimmering green wall. Many of them flinched slightly into their seats as they passed through. When they were on the other side with no ill effects, there was a small collective sigh as many people released a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding. Natasha slowed the quinjet to a hover above the waterfront. Steve stood at the front of the jet in full captain mode.

"All right. From what Loki saw earlier, there's a machine creating the gamma radiation. Thor and Bruce, when you let the Hulk out, you're on machine destruction. The rest of us are on secondary destruction but more importantly, defense. Thor and Hulk are the strongest and can do the most damage but the rest of us are going to protect them from any attacks that likely will happen." Everyone nodded. "Widow, take us down as quietly as you can, we're bound to have attracted some attention hovering up here." Natasha was maneuvering the jet over to a large, flat-topped building when Peter's head snapped up.

"Hard right!" he yelled. "Now!" Natasha's agent's instincts told her to listen to the boy and she yanked the steering mechanism to the right, sending the jet lurching off its smooth flight path. Something slid across outside of the jet with a vicious ripping sound. Nova, who was closest to the left window, whirled around to stare out.

"Something ripped a huge chunk of the siding off! It barely missed the wing!"

"It probably would have ripped through the middle of the jet if Peter hadn't warned us," said Clint.

"That's the spider-sense for ya," said Peter, trying to keep up the lighthearted cockiness he usually projected, but it was clear he was pretty uneasy.

"I think the bigger question is _what was it?_" Steve said.

"I get the feeling we're gonna find out soon enough," said Clint. Natasha set the quinjet down on a roof not far from the radiation building.

"Everyone out!" she said, as she unbuckled her seatbelt. The rear door opened and everyone rushed out. Not a moment too soon, as it turned out, as barely two seconds after Natasha cleared the door, something landed on top of the jet, crushing the middle down like aluminum foil.

"Oh, you again," muttered Bruce, kicking his shoes off quickly. Everyone hastily stepped away. The transformation was smooth, Bruce's skin turning emerald as his body swelled, doubling and tripling in size. His shirt ripped away but his pants remained unscathed, stretching with him as he grew. Tony's little project. The thing that had crushed the roof of the jet was climbing out, huge scaly limbs smashing away sharp edges. Hulk roared at the creature.

"I was wondering when we'd meet again," rumbled the scaly beast. Hulk snarled at him before taking a leap at the Abomination, knocking him off the roof in a manner similar to what Natalie had done to Loki.

"Well...I think that's our cue to leave," said Tony. "Let's head over." He gestured to the radiation building. Thor offered his hand to Steve, who took hold of Thor's wrist, Thor doing the same to him and whirling his hammer around before taking off for the building. Tony took Clint and Natasha, and Nova carried White Tiger in the same way as Thor and Steve. Spider-man shot a strand of webbing at the tip of the tall radiation device and went swinging across, and Loki transformed into a falcon and soared over.

They were met with an unfortunate surprise. Natalie was leaning nonchalantly against the base of the gamma device, one leg crossed over the other and arms casually folded. Everyone, bar Loki, stared at her with open shock. Her tank top and shorts gave a pretty good view of her new skin tone, and her silver hair was shining greenish in the glow from the dome.

"Took you long enough." She glanced their way. "I was beginning to think you hadn't found Bruce and I'd have to come and find you all myself. And frankly, I really don't think I have the time to do that, I'm quite busy here. Did you guys know that in another three hours the entire eastern half of the States will be covered? Six hours after that and all of North America will be covered. Another day or so and the entire world is transformed and the effects become permanent." Natalie was strolling casually around the rooftop now, pausing occasionally to touch the machine gently.

"Natalie, stop this and come with us. We can reverse the gamma energy," pleaded White Tiger.

"_NO!_" Natalie shrieked harshly. "Natalie was weak. I am better than she could ever be." Her silver eyes seemed to blaze. "And you will not take that away from me." Without warning, Iron Man fired a repulsor blast. Natalie flicked a hand up almost lazily, creating a shield that the blast exploded against. "Oh, you clever heroes, you had me monologuing!" She chuckled. "There are plenty of you, but there are thousands of us. I am indestructible. You can't..." She trailed off, stiffening slightly. She said nothing for a moment, then began twitching. "No- no- you insolent- little-" she sputtered, but it wasn't directed at any of the assembled heroes. She seemed to be talking to herself...

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Natalie was getting pretty tired of Gamma Nat's crazy monologuing. When Iron Man had fired the repulsor, she had made up her mind. She curled up the fingers on one hand until her middle one could reach the bracelet's catch that triggered the change into a glove. She pressed it, and the gauntlet folded out until it covered most of her hand. A second tiny button on her first finger's knuckle, triggered by her thumb, turned on the electricity. She laid her palm flat against the cocoon, then touched the minuscule button, bracing herself. The electricity was low, not enough to kill a person, or even knock them out if applied for a short enough period of time, but it could stun them for a good five or ten minutes. Natalie had developed some resistance, you could call it, to electricity, because there had been some...incidents...with the gauntlets the first few training sessions.

The electricity surged through the cocoon, amaranthium being the conductive substance it was. Over on the platform, Gamma Nat trailed off mid-evil monologue. She stiffened, and the amaranthium cocoon faded. Natalie jumped to her feet, shaking off the dizziness from the shock before racing across the small room and clamping a still-electric hand on Gamma Nat's arm. Gamma Nat began twitching, sputtering half-threats.

"No- no- you insolent- little-" Natalie shoved her, sending her stumbling slightly, but even electrically dazed she was still strong- probably equal to Natalie's physical ability. Natalie and her doppelgänger grappled on the platform, Natalie hoping that the Avengers could intervene somehow.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"She's distracted- Iron Man! Take another shot!" hissed Black Widow. Tony aimed his repulsor and fired, hitting Natalie squarely in the shoulder. She shrieked, and the patch where the blast had hit faded back to Natalie's skin tone. "Hawkeye, there!" Steve pointed to the skin patch. Hawkeye nocked one of the special arrows Bruce had made for him, with a tiny needle at the tip. He aimed and released the arrow, and the needle stuck firmly in Natalie's shoulder.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Natalie fought to push Gamma Nata off the platform but she was regaining strength from the shock. Natalie pleaded silently for one of the Avenger to do something, and was rewarded with Tony firing another repulsor at her. Gamma Nata shrieked, letting go of Natalie and clasping a hand to her shoulder, which was red and, bizarrely, smoking. Both girls felt the jab in their shoulder and let out simultaneous, identical yelps. Before Natalie's eyes, Gamma Nat began to fade, her entire body turning paler and paler as she grabbed at Natalie in a last attempt to regain control. With a quiet _phut_ sound, she disappeared and Natalie was left alone on the platform, but only for a moment before se was rushing back into her body and seeing once again out of her own eyes.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Natalie yelped as Clint's arrow stuck in her shoulder. There was a lot of silent pleading going on in the group as they waited to see if the injection would have any effect. Natalie twitched for a moment longer, then gasped and looked at the group /with hazel eyes./ Her skin faded back to her normal flesh tone and her hair turned auburn.

"Wow..." she mumbled, placing a hand on the gamma device to steady herself. She glanced at the arrow needle in her shoulder and pulled it out, wincing slightly. Ava was the first to move, rushing forward and wrapping her friend in a hug, quickly joined by Sam and Peter. Natalie was barely visible through the multicolored limbs and bodies. The Avengers let out sighs of relief. "Guys...guys...I'm okay, really!" Natalie protested from inside the hug. The teenagers separated. "Good to be out..." she murmured.

"Natalie, we're all glad you're back, but I'm afraid we're going to have to save the reunion for a later time," interrupted Iron Man, raising a metal arm and pointing behind Natalie and her friends. Two figures were climbing up over the lip of the building's roof. One was a bulky man, unremarkable in most aspects except perhaps his slightly-above-average size. The other was the electrical monstrosity that had attacked the Helicarrier and then vanished.

"Can you fight?" White Tiger murmured to Natalie.

"Yeah...I'm good," she replied, though she looked a bit disoriented. With a slight look of trepidation on her face, she summoned a staff, looking relieved when nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"The guy's called Carl Creel- the Absorbing Man. His body can take on the molecular formula of anything he touches," Natasha explained quietly as the menacing pair advanced slowly across the rooftop. "So...Cap, Natalie, Thor? Keep your stuff away from him." Natalie shook her head. The disorientation that she was experiencing was fading as she tried to create a plan.

"What if...what if we could use that to our advantage? I'm the only one who can control amaranthium- if I let him become it I could control him."

"Definitely worth a shot," said Tony. "If you get a chance, go for it." Natalie twirled the staff expertly, fierceness shining in her eyes.

"Oh, I will," she said. She turned around to face the threatening duo approaching. "I will."

* * *

**As always, review with your thoughts and comments! Thank you again for reading! And if you haven't yet, go vote on Natalie's code name on my profile! We've got a tie right now and I'm going to announce the winning name in the last chapter of the story, which is probably three or four more chapters.**

**DFTBA!**

**~Ophelia~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 already! I think the story will probably wrap itself up in one to two more chapters! The next update could be the final one...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The battle didn't start like one would expect. There was no explosive fighting, no battle cries or yelling. The two gamma villains stopped several yards from the Avengers and company. The only movements were the shifting into a defensive stance by some of the team, and the priming of a weapon or two. Natalie set her hands glowing, Loki had retrieved two knives from somewhere on his person and White Tiger's fingertips were looking awfully sharp. Both sides waited for the other to make the first move- until Zzzax growled and lunged forward. He stomped a foot, sending electricity crackling along the ground towards the group, forcing Black Widow to leap out of its path. His attack was all the Avengers needed, all eleven people springing into action.

Natalie and her teammates headed for Absorbing Man, White Tiger handing her a small earpiece as the moved. As Natalie ran, she formed an amaranthium pole, stabbed it into the roof and vaulted the remaining distance to their foe, kicking him in the face and smashing the pole onto his shoulder. He roared in pain but recovered quickly, crouching and placing a hand on the roof. The gray coloration spread up his arm, across his chest, and down his body until he was made of hard rock. Nova was flying in circles around him, letting of blasts of energy. Wherever they hit, chunks of rock tumbled from his body, but the damaged spots repaired themselves quickly. Natalie went in, swinging her staff with deliberate clumsiness, giving him a chance to grab it, which he did, taking on the amaranthium. Natalie pretended to look dismayed, concentrating. She could let her staff disappear, which she did, but she wasn't sure if would be that easy to do the same to Absorbing Man. Physically touching him would be preferable too, though she might be able to affect him from a distance. Spider-man darted around and around Absorbing Man, blasting him with web fluid, sticking his legs together and binding his arms before giving him a light push and sending him toppling face-first to the ground. Natalie rushed over and yanked him upright. He struggled as her hands began to glow and his body began to compress, growing shorter and fatter. Suddenly his arm tore free of the webbing, shaped like a sword.

"Okay, how is it that he's had this stuff for like, a minute- how is he able to do that already?" Natalie said indignantly as she dodged the blade._ I can't control him...but if I can hurt him enough... _"Thor!" Thor looked over from where he was fighting Zzzax, using Mjolnir to absorb the bolts of electricity that Zzzax loosed. "Light him up!" she yelled, lunging at Absorbing Man and knocking him to the ground once more. Thankfully, Thor understood and swung Mjolnir around, gathering lightning and then sending it crackling towards them. Natalie rolled away just before the electricity hit. Absorbing Man roared and and shuddered violently, the purple hue fading from his skin before he collapsed to the ground, still twitching. The four teens gathered around him.

"Would you like to do the honors?" White Tiger asked Natalie.  
"Gladly," she replied. Spider-man and Nova hoisted the dazed villain off of the ground. Natalie encased her fist in amaranthium and punched Absorbing Man solidly in the temple. Unconsciousness was immediate, concussion was likely. "That felt really good." Across the rooftop, the Avengers were not having such good luck. Energy weapons were no good on a creature made of energy, and bullets and other physical projectiles had little effect for the same reason- Zzzax wasn't a human mutate like Absorbing Man.

"They need water," said Peter. "Water and electricity don't go too well together." The Avengers had realized that, it seemed, but were having some trouble putting that idea into effect. Iron Man and Thor would begin flying towards a water tower, only to have to veer off of the flight path and away from the electricity crackling towards them.  
"Let's move," said Nova. White Tiger grabbed his leg as he lifted off the ground

"Not so fast, genius. What about him?" she said, pointing to Absorbing Man.

"Loki could take him back to the Helicarrier," suggested Peter. "They can keep him under control there." Natalie nodded, shouting Loki's name. He disappeared and reappeared next to them.

"Are you all alright?" They nodded.

"Can you take him to the Helicarrier?" Natalie asked, nudging the unconscious criminal with her foot

"I would be glad to remove this trash from the roof," said Loki, grabbing Absorbing Man's wrist and vanishing. He reappeared less than a minute later, sans Absorbing Man

"All right, let's move!" White Tiger shouted. She and the boys ran off towards the other fight. Natalie made to follow but Loki stopped her. He took her face in his hands.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, staring hard at her with concern. Natalie nodded

"The other me is gone, I promise." Quickly, Loki kissed her on the forehead before taking his hands away.

"We should rejoin the battle," he said. The two turned to follow the other teenagers over to the fight. They had only taken a few steps, however, when Zzzax abruptly stopped sending bolts of electricity at them, turned away, and jumped off of the roof. Iron Man made to follow him but Captain America yelled at him to stop. Iron Man skidded to a halt (as much as one can skid to a halt in midair).

"What? He left, let's go after him!" Cap shook his head.  
"It's too easy. Why just run away and leave the machine unguarded? Something's up." No sooner had the words left his mouth than another, though unfortunately familiar, huge figure landed on the roof out of nowhere. Natalie's heart sank. If the Abomination was here, then Hulk was…

No. That was impossible.

Wasn't it?

"How are we going to get the chance to destroy the machine if we have to go through him?" Natalie heard Nova say through the earpiece.

"Maybe we don't have to," said Loki. "Maybe we can make him do it for us." Understanding was immediate throughout the group. At the same time, everyone rushed at the Abomination. They didn't attack, just provoked and then darted out of the way when he tried to strike at them. Each time he attempted to hit one of them with a downward strike or punch, they would evade and he would punch the roof, creating small dents.

"It's working," said Hawkeye quietly in the earpieces. "Try and go to areas he's already hit." Natalie jumped into one of the larger dents, dancing out of the way as Loki threw a knife past her and it lodged in Abomination's back. He turned to her and raised his fists for an overhead blow. Natalie watched them..._wait...wait...now_! She vaulted out of the hole and the Abomination crushed a foot deeper into the roof. He hadn't caught on to what they were doing yet, thankfully. The last strike to the roof sent a crack snaking along the roof towards the gamma machine. The cement around the base of the machine began to crack and crumble as the machine slowly began tipping over. Everyone stopped and watched as the the machine gouged a hole in the roof of the building and pulled at sections of concrete around it, enlarging the hole very quickly. The green shooting from the top of the machine flickered and then died. The dome began disappearing from the top down at a surprising speed. Everyone was so transfixed that they almost didn't notice the edge of the hole only yards from their feet. Cap was the first to notice.

"MOVE!" he yelled. Everyone snapped out of the trance that watching falling objects often casts and scrambled to find a flying ally. Natalie raced away from the hole near her feet, leaping over chunks of concrete. Suddenly she was at the edge of the roof on the wrong side, near no one. Loki had moved away from her during the frenzy with Abomination and was running after her.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Loki wasn't close enough when the crumbling roof reached Natalie's feet. She stepped around, trying to find solid ground until someone reached her, but she wasn't quick enough. A chunk of concrete fell out from under her foot, and, with a shriek, she tumbled into the hole, towards the rubble below.

* * *

**Yay, cliffhanger! Please review, and then maybe while you are waiting for the next update, you could go and look at the other story I started? It's an Iron Man siblingfic that takes place during the first movie. **

**~Ophelia**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys! So I realized that maybe not everyone interested in this story wants to read the two whole stories before coming back to this one, so I added a thing in the first chapter that kind of summarizes the two previous stories. If you want to, go back and read them and tell me if you think they're accurate or what I could add.**

**Also, this story isn't done yet!**

* * *

Loki watched as Natalie fell into the chasm. She locked eyes with him as she dropped out of sight, pleading for help through a plaintive gaze before disappearing. The Abomination and Zzzax did not hesitate before jumping after her. Nova set White Tiger down on a stable portion of the roof and darted down after them. His blue glow lit the gaping hole and Loki could see only too clearly as the Abomination, much heavier than Natalie, caught up with her in free-fall and grabbed her around the torso. Zzzax landed a short distance away and raised his arms. The lighting fixtures still intact throughout the building began to crackle and spark. Many sparks leapt off the lights and landed on the floors and support beams. Little fires began popping up on what was left of each floor, growing as they caught the insulation and wiring that spilled from the broken floors and ceilings.

"Let's get in there!" Captain America shouted. "Get those fires out! Do whatever you have to!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Natalie locked eyes with Loki, pleading for help before she lost sight of him. She caught sight of the two behemoths falling in after her. _Dammit, wonderful._ Nova's blue glow attracted her attention but no sooner had she turned her gaze to him than she felt Abomination's huge fist close around her chest. As they landed on the defunct gamma machine, Abomination released her, sending her bouncing across the concave surface and onto the floor. She felt several somethings crack in her chest and she gasped. The Abomination jumped off the machine, shaking the floor as he landed. Natalie groaned as she was bounced slightly up and down. The monster stalked toward her.

"You were supposed to be our unbeatable weapon," he growled.

"Well, I beat me," she mumbled, each word sending spasms of pain through her chest. "Your brainy leader didn't think of that, did he?" Abomination roared.

"You heroes ruin everything. Gamma energy ain't a bad thing. You enjoyed being Little Miss Gamma, didn't you? Being invincible, having that much power at your disposal? It was nice, wasn't it?" Natalie coughed. She smelled smoke coming from somewhere and that plus her ribs was making breathing a pain in the ass.

"Hey, freak!" a voice yelled from somewhere above her. A blue beam of light smacked Abomination in the chest and he stumbled backward with a growl. "Fighting an injured person? What a coward." Nova flew over Natalie, blasting Abomination again. "Prove yourself against someone who can fight back. Or are you afraid you won't be able to?" Natalie rolled over, pushing herself up carefully, though tears still sprung to her eyes as pain sparked through her chest. Gingerly, she made her way over to a wall where she she leaned, trying to regain her breath. She couldn't breathe very deeply- she suspected that some ribs were broken- and the breaths she could take were tainted with the smoke that was beginning to fill the building. She tried to find one of the Avengers or her teammates, but the only one she had seen was Nova, and she had even lost sight of him. She limped along the perimeter of the room, clinging to the wall. She began feeling light-headed and the room felt like it was tipping. She slid down the wall, trying to regain her balance. Black spots were appearing in her vision and she thought she heard someone calling her name, but she couldn't tell who. She felt herself sinking into blackness. Just before she let the darkness take her away, she saw a huge figure emerging from the smoke.

"Help.." She mumbled feebly before losing the battle to the soft touch of unconsciousness.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Loki had transported himself down onto the level where the gamma device had stopped. He had joined Nova in trying to take down the Abomination, along with the other teenagers, Black Widow and Hawkeye. They weren't making very much headway, however. Bullets, arrows, knives- none of it really had too much effect on the monster. They created minor wounds that only aggravated him. The creature had begun taunting them as well as it became clear that they were fighting a losing battle.

"Feel free to start attacking at any time," he said in the deep growling voice. "She didn't put up much of a fight. I expected more from her, you know," he said, casually smacking Black Widow, who had crept up behind him, knife in hand. "The girl. She almost wasn't any fun to take care of...almost. There's something satisfying in every defeat, even if it's not much fun." Clint rushed to his fallen partner. Loki's eyes smoldered, and something snapped. He lunged at the monster, moving faster than any human could. His long knives were in his hand as he almost flew at the Abomination, knocking him backwards. One knife stabbed into the beast's chest.

"I told you if you harmed her, I would make you suffer," he hissed. "And I remain true to my word." He twisted the knife, provoking a roar from the creature, and then plunged the other blade into the monster's skull. The Abomination twitched twice, and then was still. Loki remained crouched on top of him for a moment, chest rising and falling rapidly, before standing up and stepping off of the monster, pulling the knives from his body.

"That...was incredible." Loki turned to see the three teens staring at him.

"We must find Lee," he said. Spider-man raised a hand, pointing behind Loki.

"I don't know if we need to," he said. A low, rumbling voice came from behind Loki.

"Puny god." Loki whirled. The Hulk was lumbering toward them. In one arm, he cradled Natalie's limp form. Her head lolled backwards over his thick arm and her face was eerily pale. Loki rushed to meet him and gently took her into his arms. He quickly strode over to where Hawkeye was tending to Black Widow, who had regained consciousness somewhat.

"Hold onto her and put your hand on my arm," said Loki. Hawkeye did so, wrapping one arm under Natasha's shoulders and reaching up to grab Loki's elbow with the other. The small group vanished almost immediately.

"They will be okay?" rumbled the Hulk. White Tiger nodded.

"They'll be fine, big guy." Iron Man's voice came over their earpieces.

_"We got Zzzax. The Leader showed his oversized face too, and we took him down as well. What's the situation down there?"_

"Well, Loki killed the Abomination and-" Nova began, but Iron Man interrupted.

_"Killed him? That's pretty harsh, what happened?"_

"He got mad because the Abomination hurt Lee. Hulk found her and-"

_"Hulk found her? Is she okay?"_

"She looked pretty beat up. I don't know, though."

_"All right. You guys should get out of there. Can you get back to the Helicarrier?"_ Captain America asked.

"Yeah, most of us, but I don't think I can carry Hulk, and I don't think even he can jump that far."

_"Tell him to turn back to Bruce and come out of the building. Thor or Iron Man can carry him."_

"Will do," said Nova. He turned to Hulk. "Hey, big guy, we're going to get out of here and then we're going back to the Helicarrier. Once we leave the building, can Bruce come back out?" Hulk nodded before leaping straight up, jumping off walls toward the hole in the roof. "Well then- I guess that's out cue," said Nova. He held out his hands and his friends grabbed them. Nova lifted off the ground and soared after the Hulk.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Loki appeared in the medical bay of the Helicarrier. "We need some help over here!" Clint shouted. Several doctors and nurses rushed over wheeling gurneys. Clint helped Natasha onto one while Loki set Natalie down on the other. A nurse was shining a light into Natasha's eyes and another was placing an oxygen mask over Natalie's mouth and nose as the two young women were wheeled away.

"She's a fighter," said Clint quietly when they were alone in the hallway. "She'll make it." Loki nodded. Months ago, had you had told Clint that he would one day offer reassurance to the man who had taken hold of his mind, he probably would have called you insane, then shot you, but he had grown to see Loki as a ally and something close to a friend, and friends don't leave one another in times like that.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Natalie woke up in a bed, which was quite different from where she had fallen asleep. Where had that been? Right, the building. Hadn't she been hurt? She felt pretty good, considering she thought she had broken ribs. She kicked the sheets off of her feet and swung them over the side. Tile flooring, light blue walls, small room...definitely hospital. She could hear several sets of footsteps racing down the hallways and she got up to go investigate. She was greeted by the sight of her three teammates skidding to halt in front of a SHIELD doctor outside her room.

"Is she okay?" Ava panted.

"She's unconscious, but stable. She wasn't breathing well when she arrived so she's been put on a ventilator."

"What do you mean? I'm right here!" Natalie said indignantly.

"Can we go in and see her?" Peter asked. The doctor nodded.

"Hello?! What are you talking about? Guys, this isn't funny, I want to talk to you!" Her friends walked past her, not even the tiniest glance her way. In a huff, she followed them inside, and then stopped dead in her tracks.  
Lying in the bed was...her? A tube slipped between her lips and an IV line fed into the back of her hand. Monitors blipped gently, displaying her vitals in reds and greens and blues.

"Do you think she can hear us?" asked Ava. The doctor shrugged.

"It's not uncommon. I've got to run, you're welcome to stay here and just give a shout if anything happens." The doctor left the room. Natalie marched over to Ava and put her hand on her shoulder. Or tried to. Her hand sank right through her friend's shoulder. Ava shivered slightly. Natalie freaked out right then. She left the room at a run, tearing down the hallways. She headed for a pair of double doors and didn't lose any speed, intending to barrel through and heaven help anyone on the other side. But her hands passed right through the doors. She stopped in the main area of the medical wing, where all the hallways to the different areas converged in a large circular room. There were several doctors, nurses and agents moving through the room. She turned frantically on the spot, her breathing increasing.

"Somebody look at me!" Natalie was practically screaming now.

"Okay." Natalie whirled around. A young woman was standing in the middle of the room. She didn't look much older than Natalie, about nineteen or twenty, and had wavy dark hair that hung just past her shoulder blades. She wore a black leather jacket, a green shirt, black jeans and short black boots- but her most striking features were her luminous jade eyes. They were strangely familiar.

"Take it easy, okay?" the girl said soothingly, raising her hands in a placating gesture.

"Wh- who are you? Why can you see me? Why won't anyone else notice me?" The questions tumbled out of Natalie's mouth. "Oh my god, you're not, like, a reaper or anything, are you? Am I dead?" The girl shook her head.

"No, you're not dead, but you were pretty close. Don't freak out!" She said quickly when a panicked expression reappeared on Natalie's face. "You heard the doctor say that your breathing rates were low, right? Loss of oxygen, that sort of thing. As for who I am, I think you know my father pretty well." Natalie was confused.

"Your father? Who-" The girl nodded at something behind Natalie. Natalie turned. Loki was walking quickly towards the door she had passed through a minute ago. Natalie turned back to the young woman, realization dawning.

"You're...Hela, right?"

"Goddess of the dead, in the flesh."

"Are you sure I'm not dead?" Natalie asked after a moment of consideration. Hela chuckled and nodded.

"If you were, I might be talking to you in a different place. You're still alive."

"So...how do I get back in my body? Can you send me back?" Hela shook her head.

"I'm the goddess of the dead, and you're not dead- I can't send you back unless you're in my realm. You'll go back in your body when you've healed sufficiently. It's common for an out-of-body experience to occur after severe trauma. She pulled a black phone from her jacket pocket. "Hey, I've gotta go, I've got some serial killer souls coming in that need a special place prepared." She raised her eyebrows. "You gonna be okay now?" Natalie nodded. "Great. If I have time later I'll come back and check up on you." Hela snapped her fingers and vanished in a swirl of inky darkness. Natalie was alone again. She sighed. It was going to be very boring until she went back to her body.

* * *

**Please review! And if you haven't, go vote on the poll on my profile! And check out my other story, Genii- That's Genius, Plural. It's an Iron Man sibling!fic.**

**Until next update,**

**~Ophelia**


End file.
